Van Drivers and the Highway Code

The AA has compared conviction statistics for both car and van drivers and discovered something rather interesting – van drivers are twice as likely to step out of line and break the rules of the road – the Highway Code.

Van drivers, according to AA Insurance, are probably more likely to be caught much more frequently on their mobile phone whilst driving their van than car drivers – a staggering 6 times more likely. Van drivers are also twice as likely to get a motoring conviction than drivers of cars.

Customers of the AA provided data for the AA to analyse that showed 7.4% of car owners in the past 5 years had endorsements on their licenses but 15.5% of van drivers had had their licenses suitably annotated for breaking one or more driving offences.

Only 0.4% of car drivers received a CU80 offence compared to 2.4 % of van drivers. The CU80 is for using a mobile phone whilst at the wheel of your car or van.

The Director of AA Insurance, Simon Douglas stated: “The significantly higher number of van drivers’ offences is astonishing but is perhaps down to the pressure to get between jobs and keep customers informed. But they’re clearly getting stung for it – not just fines and the risk of losing their license, but increased insurance premiums too.”

These figures about mobile phones usage follow a recent survey by the AA in which 42% of people responding to the survey openly admitted that they use their mobile phone whilst driving.

Simon Douglas further commented: “Unlike speeding, which can be recorded by roadside cameras, a mobile phone conviction usually relies on the offence being witnessed by a police officer which is probably why Londoners are more likely to be caught.”

London van drivers accounted for 3.2% of van drivers being caught whilst using a mobile phone. Scotland was the only area with a higher rate of conviction with 3.4 % of such drivers receiving a conviction.

In the South East 17.4% of van drivers had been convicted of motoring offences during the past 5 years.

Research by AA Insurance revealed that insurance companies look less favourably on a driver with an offence for being caught using their mobile phone at the wheel as opposed to someone caught speeding.

Simon Douglas added: “Our own research shows that on average, offenders can expect their insurance premium to increase by 9.3% for a single speeding offence and 18.5% if they have been convicted of using a hand-held phone.”